Leave A Comment

X-POSITION: Nick Lowe on “Schism,” “X-Cutioner’s Song” & “Vengeance”

The X-Men have always been a team that’s remained busy, but looking at events on their horizon (according to upcoming solicitations), I’d recommend that the team stock up on Red Bull! Currently, they are embroiled in “Age of X,” but in the coming year they’ll have to deal with “Fear Itself,” fallout from “Avengers: Children Crusade” and a split among the team in “X-Men: Schism.” And all this doesn’t even take the X-members’ individual adventures and crossovers into account!

With such a full calendar, the editors of the X-books keep extremely busy. Still, they manage to find the time to come and share the love here at X-POSITION and answer all of your well-worded questions. Today, Senior Editor Nick Lowe joins us to tackle all your adoring emails. He’s got his shoulder pads on and is ready to go!

1) I believe Nick Lowe once mentioned “The X-Cutioner’s Song” was his favorite crossover. Is there any chance we could see Brandon Peterson, Greg Capullo or Jae Lee do some X-Men art…please?

Hells, yeah — “X-Cutioner’s Song” is my favorite! There’s definitely some sentimentality in that love (our recent crossovers have at least had more of a clear story going on than “X-Cutioner’s Song” and many other X-crossovers), but I still love it to this day. I love all three of those artists you mention, and Andy Kubert as well (who was the linchpin of that group). So many of those visuals are indelibly burned into my brain. If schedules and interest would permit, I would love to get all four of them on X-books. X-Cutioner’s Reprise!

2) One thing I like is when you (the X-office) do the smaller crossovers between books (e.g. “Age of X”). Are there any plans for other smaller crossovers?

Well, we’re right in at the climax of “Age of X” and in the middle of “Collision” (Daken and X-23), so we’ll probably give small crossovers a little breather right now.

That’s fine with Kellen, who just needs to know where their favorite character ends up during the big event.

Is Storm going to be caught in the middle of the Cyclops/Wolverine break-up in “Schism” given that she knows both men so well? What direction will she be taking within the X-Men in the upcoming year?

Storm is going to have a lot of tough decisions to make in the next year, but I promise Storm fans (especially X-Editor Daniel Ketchum, #1 Storm fan) that she’s going to be a huge part of X-Plans.

Marcus was also curious about another mutant’s opinion of the upcoming split, and had a few questions about other Marvel heroes too:

1) Given the way he left the team and his disagreement with Cyclops’ ways, will Beast be involved in the upcoming “Schism” event?

Nope. Sorry bud, but Beast already Schissed (new word!).

2) Will the Avengers get involved with “X-Men: Schism,” given that this is sort of like the X-Men’s version “Civil War?”

They don’t play a major role, but you’ll see them in the pages of “Schism.” This is mainly between X-folk until the end.

3) With the Scarlet Witch returning in the “Avengers: The Children Crusade,” will any of the X-titles be focusing on the fallout of that event when the miniseries is finished?

Yep. You’ll see one X-book impacted in a big way upon the conclusion, and that’s just the beginning. Allan and Jimmy are killing with that book. Love it.

Now that you mention Wanda, Taurean was Wanda-ring something…

1) It seems that there are many “messiah” characters in the Marvel U; for example Nate Grey, the Scarlet Witch, and now Hope. Will these three characters eventually meet up? And could this spell a new version of the Illuminati — one that focuses on mutantkind?

Provided Nate makes it out of the “New Mutants” arc alive, you can bet that there’ll be a lot of catching up to do with him and the folks on Utopia, as well as more of the Marvel U.

2) With “Schism” set to divide the X-Men and mutankind, will the two main players solely be Wolverine and Cyclops? It seems that Xavier and Magneto would have plenty to say about Utopia and mutankind breaking up. Could we see the rise of new mutant leaders? Hope seems to be a potential candidate since she is the “messiah.”

First of all, you are making a lot of assumptions about what “Schism” is about. I’ll confirm that it centers on Cyclops and Wolverine, but that part about Utopia and mutantkind splitting doesn’t sound familiar to me, and I know more about this event than anyone who doesn’t have a scary beard and delights in the sadness of Frank Castle.

3) With the division happening soon, can we expect to see the rise of new mutant factions or teams? I kind of miss the days of splinter teams with their own purpose and initiative…

It’s too early to share post-Schism details. What I will say is that the books coming out of “Schism” are going to be unlike anything we’ve seen in X-books in a long time.

Phoenix Egg wrote in with a couple of requests — can serve these up with a side of fries?

1) I think there is a considerable lack of truly threatening villains for our muties to work against. I understand the mega-arc about survival we’ve been on the past few years, but can we expect some major mustache-twirlers to come into play soon? New ones, old ones…just give us villains and make them credible!

Huh? Have you been reading “Uncanny X-Force?” “X-Men: Legacy?” “New Mutants?” There have been a lot of huge villains going on.

2) I’m excited for “Schism” and I’m wondering if Jason Aaron going to get his own team book after this event?

We sure love Jason in the X-office, so I’ll try and make that happen just for you, Phoenix Egg.

Sounds promising! Anubis00 was inquiring about the future as well. Let’s see what you say to this:

With Nate Grey coming back, what role will he play in the X-Men’s future? And is there any chance of Hope and him interacting considering his ties with Cable?

Too early to say here, Anubis00. Pick up “New Mutants” for answers to this question.

You’ve got your homework — get to it! Fea La Bella wrote in and brings up yet another event on the horizon:

1) Due to the secrecy of Wolverine’s hit squad, will the “Uncanny X-Force” be torn apart by “Schism” or will they stay unified for the sake of their mission?

That’s a good question to look for at the end of “Schism,” Fea La Bella!

2) Can you reveal any more details about “Vengeance,” a storyline apparently featuring the return of controversial fan-favorite Stacy X? Is this story in-continuity?

Yup!

Brief, but to the point. X-POSITION regular Faded has been looking into her crystal ball, but the future looks kind of cloudy. Can you clear things up?

1) Will the emergence of new mutants cause mutantkind to feel Utopia isn’t needed as a sanctuary anymore? Will we start to see more branching out and villainous opposition amongst mutants in the future?

Faded! After our big story with Bastion and overarching anti-mutant stories, we felt that kind of story needed a break. It’s kind of like a champ retiring on top. We haven’t seen the last of that kind of story, but it is the last for a while.

2) We’ve seen the mysteries of “Age of X” unravel, but will any of the fantastic new costumes remain? How about the upgraded codenames like Eclipse?

Check out “X-Men: Legacy” for this kind of stuff.

We love stuff! And now it’s my turn with today’s get-to-know-you “Behind the X” question. Let’s try this one — when you first started working in the comic book industry, who were you most excited to meet and what was that initial meeting like?

When I started, I got to talk on the phone to Neil Gaiman on Day 2, and that was it. I had no clue of what to expect, but he was, and is, the nicest guy. I feel hugely honored to call him a friend.

That wraps things up, but we’ll be back in seven days with “X-Men” writer Victor Gischler. Think long and hard, and when your brain starts to hurt, send me emails with your questions as quickly as possible. Put an “X-Position” in the subject line, and I’ll stop by your home with posies on May Day! I can’t wait to see what you come up with!